Wire storage coil carrier



Feb. 13, 1962 A. MCMASTERS WIRE STORAGE con CARRIER Filed June 9, 1960 M & m N

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United SE-tates 3,021,010 WIRE STORAGE COIL CARRIER Robert A. McMasters, Birmingham, Ala., assignor to Southeastern Metals Company Filed June 9, 1960, Ser. No. 34,936 9 Claims. (Cl. 211-49) The present invention is related to portable supports for coiled strand material such as wire, rope and the like and is more particularly concerned with a carrier for one or more coils of strand material as well as additional similar carriers.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide light-weight, strong, and economically produce-- able carriers for one or more coils of strand material, which carriers can be readily moved from place to place by conventional means, either manually operated or power driven, and which carriers can be stacked one upon the other either while containing coils thereon or when empty to permit the moving of a plurality of carriers at the same time as well as conserving space when in use or when being stored.

A further and important object of the invention is to provide carriers for strand material which can be used for winding and unwinding the strand material thereon, either manually or in conjunction with conventional coiling and pay-off means as well as supporting previously coiled strands.

Another important object is to provide carriers which can be lifted by conventional means engaging either the top of the carrier or supporting the bottom of a carrier for raising the same or raising the carrier and further similar carriers stacked thereon with or without coiled strand material on one or all of the carriers and which carriers are each composed of a minimum number of elements connected by spot welding.

A still further object of the invention is to provide carriers for coiled strand material which carriers are formed entirely of tubular material and are so constructed that each can support heavy loads of coiled material without reinforcing and strengthening members and which carriers can also support the coiled material spaced from a supporting surface or be readily slid over such surface or readily raised by means inserted between the carrier and such surface.

Further objects of the invention will be in part obvious and in part pointed out in the following description of the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carrier according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of said carrier with coiled material thereon indicated in dotted lines,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a plurality of nested carriers when empty,

PEG. 4 is a front elevation of two nested carriers when loaded with coiled material thereon indicated by dotted lines,

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the two nested carriers of FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a modified form of carrier,

And FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a further modified form of carrier.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawing, the carrier for coiled strand material as shown in FIGS. 1-5 inclusive is formed from a plurality of identical tubular elements A, B, C and D. Element A has a straight medial portion 1 bent at 2 with straight leg 3 of the lower end portion of said element extending laterally and substantially at right angles to the medial portion 1. Said leg 3 is joined by a rounded apex 4 to a second straight leg 5 extending in substantially the 2 same plane as leg 3 and providing a U-shaped end portion with slanting legs to said element. The free or terminal end 6 of leg 5 slants outwardly therefrom.

Element A further has an L-shaped top end portion thereof bent at 7 from said medial portion with a contiguous straight leg 8 extending laterally of said medial portion and an apex 9 with free or terminal end leg 10 extending laterally from leg 8.

Elements B, C, and D are identical with said element A with element B having a straight medial portion 11, lower bend 12 with lateral leg 13, apex 14 and leg 15 forming a U-shaped end portion while the free or terminal end 16 of leg 15 extends outwardly. Also, the upper end portion of element 11 is bent at 17 providing an L-shaped end portion having a straight lateral leg 18 with free or terminal end leg 19 extending laterally thereto.

Element C has straight medial portion 20, bend 21, U-shaped end portion 22, 23, 24 and outwardly extending free end 25. The upper end portion of said element is bent at 26 and 28 providing an Lshaped end portion having a laterally extending straight leg 27 and free end leg 29 extending laterally thereof.

Element D has straight medial portion 30, bend 31 with U-shaped lower end portion 32, 33, and 34 with outwardly extending free end 35. The upper end portion of said element is bent at 36 providing an L-shaped end portion having straight lateral leg 37 from which a further straight free end lateral leg 38' extends.

Each of said legs 3, 13, 22 and 32 of elements A, B, C, and D respectively has a free end 6, 16, 25 and 35 respectively overlapping end portions 32, 3, 13 and 22 respectively adjacent the. bends 3i, 2, 12 and 21 and attached thereto in any suitable manner such as by electric spot welding, for example. As a result, legs 3, 5, 32, 34, 22, 24, i3, and 15 with ends 16, 6, 35, and 25 extend in substantially the same plane providing a flat, open base for the carrier with the medial portions 1, 11, 20 and 30 slanting inwardly from said base.

Each leg 8, 18, 27, and 37 of the top end portions of said elements A, B, C, and D extends in a plane which is on an obtuse angle relative to a plane on which each of legs 3, 13, 22 and 32 respectively extend and has end legs 38, 10, 19, and 29 overlapping the same adjacent their apex and likewise connected to said legs in any conventional manner as, for example, by electric spot welding. As a result, the top of the carrier provided by said legs is substantially flat as all of the legs in the upper end portions of said elements extend in substantially the same plane. However, the apices of said legs are spaced apart providing an opening E therebetween. Also, said flat top provided by the upper end portion of said elements is smaller than the opening between the legs of the lower end portion whereby the top end portion of one carrier is insertable through the base of a second carrier superimposed thereon as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 depending upon the inward slant of the medial portions of the elements. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of the carriers of the present type can be nested by superimposing one carrier upon the next. Also, as shown in FIG. 4 where one carrier has a plurality of superimposed coils of strand material F mounted upon the base thereof with the medial portions extending through the center of said coils, a second similarly loaded carrier can be superimposed upon the first carrier by inserting the top of the lower carrier through the base of the upper carrier until said base rests upon the top coil of the lower carrier.

The modified form of carrier shown in FIG. 6 consists of a plurality of identical tubular elements H, I, I, and K each of which has a straight medial portion 36, 49, 62, and respectively. Element H further has a lower bend 37 and V-shaped lower end portion 38, 39, 40, 41, and 42. Element I has bend 50 and V-shaped lower end portion 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55. Element J has bend 63, lower end portion 64, 65, 66, 67, and 68. Element K has lower bend 76 and V-shaped end portion 77, 78, 79, 80, and 81. Each of the legs 38, 51, 64, and 77 extends laterally from their corresponding medial portions while legs 40, 53, 66, and 79 extend laterally from the connected legs 38, 51, 64, and 77 respectively. End portions 42, 55, 68 and 81 extend outwardly from their contiguous legs 40, 53, 66, and 79 respectively, but all of said V-shaped lower end portions extend substantially in the same plane. End 42 is bent at 43 with a V-shaped bend and a free end 44 extending in a reversed direction parallel to but spaced from said end on a side thereof opposite to its medial portion 36. Similarly, element I has a U-shaped end 56, 57 parallel to but spaced beneath end 55. Element K has U-shaped end 69, 70 extending beneath end 63 and element K has U-shaped end 82, 83 extending beneath and spaced from end 81. The free ends 44, 57, 70 and 83 thus provide runners for the carrier. Ends 42, 55, 6S and 81 overlap a connected leg 51, 64, 77, and 38 respectively and are connected thereto in any conventional manner such as by spot welding.

End 48 of element H overlaps the top lateral connected leg 75b of element K while the end leg 75c of element K overlaps the lateral straight connected leg 72 of element I with end leg 74 of element J overlapping the straight connected lateral leg 59 of element I and end 61 of element I overlaps a straight connected lateral leg 46 of element H. Said overlapping legs are connected in any conventional manner such as by spot welding and they extend in the same plane but have an opening L in the center thereof.

A still further modification is shown in FIG. 7 which consists of a plurality of tubular elements M, N, O, and P. Element M has a straight medial portion 84 with a bend at its lower end from which extends a straight lateral leg 86. The lower end portion of said element M is further bent at 87 providing straight leg 88 having a bend 89 providing an outwardly extending end 90 with a U-shaped end portion 91, 92, and 93 extending downwardly from the side thereof opposite to portion 84. Similarly, element N has straight medial portion 98, lower bend 99, connected straight lateral leg 100, bend 101, lateral leg 102, bend 103, outwardly extending end 104 and U-shaped free end 105, 106, 107 and 108 extending therebeneath.

Element has straight medial portion 113, lower bend 114, straight connected lateral leg 115, bend 116, leg 117, bend 118, outwardly extending end 119, and U-shaped free end 120, 121, 122, and 123. Element P has straight medial portion 128, lower bend 129, straight connected lateral leg 130, bend 131, leg 132, bend 133, outwardly extending end 134, and downwardly extending U-shaped free end 135, 136, 137, and 138. Ends 90, 104, 119, and 134 overlap connected legs 100, 115, 130, and 86 respectively and are connected thereto in a conventional manner as by spot welding. Said legs and ends extending in substantially the same plane providing an open bottom supported by the legs formed by said U-shaped free end portions.

The top of element M has a bend 94 with a straight connected lateral leg 95, apex 96, and lateral free end leg 97. Element N also has a top bend 109, straight connected leg 110, apex 111, and straight lateral end leg 112. Element 0 has upper bend 124, straight lateral connected leg 125, apex 126, and lateral free end leg 127. Element P has upper bend 128a, straight connected lateral 128b, apex 128a, and free straight lateral end leg 128d. End legs 112, 127, 128d, and 97 overlap connected legs 95, 110, 125, and 12Gb respectively, providing a fiat top to said carrier with a central opening Q between said apices.

In the use of the present carriers, coils of strand ma terial such as F held together by bands G can be mounted upon the carriers by inserting the medial portions 1, 11,. 20, and 30 through the center thereof until the coils. rest upon the base provided by the lower end portions. of said elements. Further coils can then be super1mposed one upon the other as shown in FIG. 4. However, it is to be appreciated that the carrier can be: mounted upon a revolving turntable and the wire fed. thereto around said medial portions or fed from the carrier in a like manner or from the coils thereon. In Ihlsconnection, means such as a hold-down rod, flot'shownr may be mounted upon the fiat top of the carrier and: connected to the turntable for retaining the carrier there The fiat top of the carrier has further uses in that a blade of a fork-type lift truck can be inserted thereunder for lifting the carrier or conventional pay-otf attachments connected to said flat top or a hook Inserted through opening E for lifting the carrier by crane, for example. Eliminating cross bracing within the carr1er permits the nesting of the loaded or empty carriers for conserving space and providing the lifting or revolvin of superimposed carriers at the same time.-

The carriers of FIGS. 6 and 7 can be employed in the same manner as above described for the carrier of FIG. 1 but, in addition, the runners 44, 57, 70 and 83 of the carrier of FIG. 6 raise the base of the carrier from a supporting surface permitting a blade of a fork-type lift truck or a hand truck to be inserted beneath said base for lifting the carrier and transporting it from place to place or permitting the carrier to be slid over a supporting surface. The U-shaped runners 92, 107, 122, and 137 of the carrier of FIG. 7 also support the base of the carrier above a supporting surface whereupon the carrier can be also used in any of the manners described for the carriers of FIGS. 1 and 6.

The present carriers are capable of considerable modification and such changes thereto as come within the scope of the appended claims is deemed to be a part of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A carrier for coiled material comprising a plurality of tubular elements, each of said elements having opposite end portions each extending laterally from an end of a medial portion thereof, the end portions of said elements each being attached to the corresponding end portions of two other of said elements and the corresponding end portions at one end of said elements each having a curved end providing runners for said carrier.

2. A carrier for coiled material comprising a plurality of tubular elements being connected together at one end and each having a straight medial portion thereof, said elements each having a laterally extending opposite end portion with a bent free end providing a runner for said carrier and the laterally extending end por tion of each element being connected to the medial portion of its element attached to a corresponding end portion of an adjacent element.

3. A carrier for coiled material comprising a plurality of tubular elements connected at one end and each having a straight medial portion thereof, each element having the opposite end provided with a laterally extending portion, each laterally extending portion being connected to the medial portion of its element and having a reverse bend providing a runner for said carrier and said elements each having said laterally extending portion attached to a similar portion of an adjacent element.

4. A carrier for coiled material comprising a plurality of identical tubular elements, each of said elements having a straight medial portion and laterally extending opposite end portions, the corresponding end portions of said elements each being attached to the corresponding end portions of two others of said elements providing an open base and a relatively smaller top capable of insertion through the open base of similar carriers.

5. A carrier for coiled material comprising a plurality of tubular elements, each of said elements having a straight medial portion and laterally extending opposite end portions, the corresponding end portions of said elements being attached to the corresponding end portions of two other of said elements and those end portions at one end of said element being positioned providing a flat top to the carrier and spaced apart providing a central opening in said flat top.

6. A carrier for coiled material comprising a plurality of tubular elements each having a straight medial portion, a laterally extending V-shaped lower end portion and an L-shaped laterally extending upper end portion, each of said elements having its end portions overlapping corresponding end portions of an adjacent element, and attached thereto providing an open carrier base at one end and a flat open top at the opposite end.

7. A carrier for coiled material as claimed in claim 6, wherein each element V-shaped lower end portion has a leg connected to said element medial portion, a terminal end leg and a rounded apex connecting said connected leg and said terminal leg, each element L-shaped upper end portion has a leg connected to said element medial portion and a terminal end leg connected to and extending laterally of its connected leg, the upper and lower end portion connected legs of each element extending laterally of one another and each terminal leg of each element overlapping and attached to a connected leg of the corresponding end of an adjacent element.

8. A carrier for coiled material as claimed in claim 6 wherein the L-shaped upper end portion of each element has a leg connected to said medial portion of its element, a terminal leg and an apex connecting said connected leg to said terminal leg with both legs extending in the same plane, the terminal leg of each element overlapping and attached to a connected leg of an adjacent element providing said flat top of said carrier and the apices of said L-shaped end portions being spaced apart providing said opening in said fiat top.

9. A carrier for coiled material as claimed in claim 6 wherein the upper and lower end portions of each element each has a leg connected to the medial portion of its element and a terminal leg, the connected legs of each element extend in planes which are on an obtuse angle relative to one another and each terminal leg of each element is attached to a connected leg at the corresponding end of an adjacent element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 215,180 Stiles May 6, 1879 1,278,385 Rickard Sept. 10, 1918 2,278,109 Karp Mar 3, 1942 2,916,152 Dull Dec. 8, 1959 2,925,206 Hancock Feb. 16, 1960 

